No Disciplinary Proceedings To Terminate Aided School Teacher Who 'Abandoned' Service To Continue Foreign Job: Kerala High Court

Justice Harisankar V. Menon observed that disciplinary proceedings are not required in such cases since refusal to rejoin service amounts to 'abandonment'.

The petitioner before the Court was an aided school, which challenged the government's refusal to ratify the termination of a Mathematics teacher who took up employment abroad.

The teacher (8^th respondent) was appointed in 1993 and he was to retire in 2021. In 2005, he availed Leave Without Allowance (LWA) for 5 years, which was extended till 2015. Thereafter, he sought a further extension till 2020 but the school headmaster informed that his application for extension would not be forwarded to the District Educational Officer.

At this stage, the teacher sent a letter informing that he was not in a position to leave US, where he is currently employed. While so, the sanctioned leave expired. The school sent a notice asking him to rejoin duty within 15 days, failing which disciplinary proceedings would be initiated.

The teacher again sent a letter reiterating the contents of his previous one. The school again asked him to rejoin duty and thereafter, sent a show cause notice seeking an explanation as to why he should not be terminated. Since no reply was received, disciplinary proceedings were finalized and a provisional decision was taken to remove him in tune with memo of charges and show cause notice.

The DEO as well as the school manager issued memo of charges and granted one last opportunity to the teacher. The enquiry report was finalized and the teacher was issued a hearing notice. However, he remained silent.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of General Education denied request to terminate the teacher alleging that procedure contemplated under the Kerala Education Rules was not followed. Later, the teacher submitted a letter informing that he is ready to undergo early retirement.

After a lot of proceedings and issuance of fresh charges, the Manager finally issued order terminating the teacher after the date of his official retirement. However, the government's view was that the disciplinary action cannot be approved since it is after retirement.

Aggrieved, the school came before the High Court contending that there is no need for disciplinary proceedings since the teacher voluntarily gave up the service.

Relying on various precedents, the Court remarked:

“even after receipt of all the above communications, the 8th respondent did not think it fit to rejoin duty. Instead, he informed the Manager that, for various reasons, he could only continue to reside in the USA. In my opinion, this conduct clearly amounts to abandonment of service, and there is no requirement to initiate any further disciplinary proceedings against the 8th respondent, as held in the afore judgments.”

Next, the Court referred to a decision of the Division Bench, which held that teachers of aided schools would cease to be service after a continuous absence of 5 years whether with or without leave. It then opined that the 8^th respondent teach could not seek further extension in violation of the afore mandate.

Thus, the Court allowed the plea. It declared that the 8^th respondent teacher abandoned the service and was rightly terminated. It also directed the competent authority to approve the new appointment made by the school.

Case No: W.P(C) No. 28358 of 2022

Case Title: The St. Joseph's Boys Higher Secondary School v. The State of Kerala and Ors.

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 443

Counsel for the petitioner: George Poonthottam (Sr.), A.L. Navaneeth Krishnan, Saritha Thomas, Nisha George

Counsel for the respondents: T.R. Rajesh, Aiswarya E J Vettikompil, Abesh Alosious, Nandana Sasi, Pooja Surendran - Government Pleader

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